[sword-devel] Considering write-up on "Getting Started as BibleCS volunteer"

[Chris Little]

On Wed, 26 Nov 2003, Lynn Allan wrote:

> Would appreciate some feedback: I'm considering putting some time into
> writing up a series of notes on how to get started contributing to the
> BibleCS part of The Sword Project. It would be from the perspective of a
> Sword newbie, and try to address the learning curve involved.
> 
> I thought it could address things such as:
> * acquiring Borland C++ Builder and setup (6.0? upcoming C++BuilderX?)

Borland C++ Builder 5.0... don't forget to mention that, since it's still 
what we actually use for official development.  eBay might be the only 
place to get it now, since it's a few years older than 6.0.
 
> * CVS and ICU issues
> 
> * a "sane" subset of .bpr's and .bpg's (most now seem broken to this
> inexperienced observer)

I don't know about the project files for BCB6 (though didn't David Trotz 
mention he got them fixed?--or maybe he just planned to).  But the BCB5 
project files should all work fine.

> * a simple "baby" console program that acquires a verse from the sword-api
> and displays it (would also function as a sanity check that enough stuff is
> "knittted together" to allow proceeding. Also allow step-into debugging to
> learn how the sword-api works)

Diatheke.  apps/console/diatheke.  BCB project files in
utilities/bcppmake.

> * a simple "baby" vcl program that acquires a verse from the sword-api and
> displays it (fuller sanity check)
> 
> * pointers to additional resources
> 
> (Does this seem worthwhile? Could some veterns provide some guidance?  Is
> there a better person with the interest + time to tackle it?

Sounds like a good idea, if you have the time.  I'd suggest coming by the
IRC channel (#sword on irc.freenode.net) if you have questions about
anything.

> A bigger question: is BibleCS r.i.p.?

We released a new version, what, about 2 months ago?  No, definitely not 
yet RIP.  It might not be a bad idea to kill it off, I'll agree, and build 
something from scratch using a new platform (since VCL in fact IS dead) 
like .NET or wxWindows.

> As near as I can tell, the only project .bpr's and .bpg's that work are
> associated with utility programs like mod2osis. That seems to have been
> the case for some time, but I could be misinformed, obviously. Is it
> possible to actually recompile BibleCS with what is in CVS without
> show-stopper compile and link errors from the variant of libsword.lib
> that it expects? Does C++Builder 5.5 work? Can it be obtained somewhere?

BCB 5.0 (there's no BCB 5.5--the compiler is 5.5 but Builder is only 5.0).  
eBay might be the only source, but I haven't investigated it at all.

> Is there a way to get C++ Builder 6.0 to work?)

Yeah.  It can work, though perhaps it doesn't at the moment.  And CVS may
not always compile for BCB6 (or BCB5 or GCC) at any particular time.  
Development tends to be done in BCB5 or Linux, so one of these will get
updated at the same time.  Then, when one of us tries to build on the
other systems, the project files for those get updated.

--Chris